THE NEW FACE OF HYPERTENSIVE DISORDERS OF PREGNANCY IN A POPULATION UNDERGOING SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGES
Preeclampsia, eclampsia, incidence, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, risk factors
Preeclampsia and its complications affect 3-8% of all pregnancies, with a higher incidence in underdeveloped countries and among women in socioeconomic vulnerability. It is still an important cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, in addition to fetal mortality. The long-term impact on a child born of preeclampsia is not entirely understood, but includes a greater risk of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases later in life. The objectives of this work were to determine the incidence of eclampsia in the state of Rio Grande do Norte and to assess the risk factor for disease. Data sources were obtained from the DATASUS and from the Maternidade Escola Januario Cicco. Of the 253,223 pregnancies, 24,081 had documented hypertensive disorder during pregnancy in the State of Rio Grande do Norte with a frequency of 9.5%. Of importance, the frequencies of severe preeclampsia and eclampsia were respectively, 2.1 and 0.9%. The frequency of eclampsia among hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was 10.1%. The overall incidence of severe preeclampsia was 5.2% and eclampsia was 0.02%. Risk factor for severe preeclampsia included family history of hypertension, whereas obesity was associated with mild preeclampsia. The introduction of magnesium sulfate decreased the cases of eclampsia. However, there has been an increase in severe preeclampsia, leading to risk of mortality and potential of complications in a future pregnancy. There is a need to careful revision of prenatal care, with identification of women at risk of severe preeclampisa.